Friday, October 19, 2012

Augury – The Midgard Campaign Setting (Part II)

The first major region described is the
Crossroads, the “heart” of western Midgard, famous because of the Free-City of
Zobeck. We get a full description of the Clockwork City, besides a color map.
There’s also information on the various festivals and main roads of the region.
This last bit is thoroughly described, with mention of the most common threats,
costs of guards and transportation, companies (mercantile and mercenary), stats
for river barges, details on trade fairs – there’s even a table with spring
travel times!

Other places described are the Cloudwall
Mountains, the Empire of the Ghouls and the matriarchy of Perunalia. The
Cloudwall Mountains, part of the borders of the undead nations of Morgau and
Doresh, are so dangerous that some cities simply sent their criminal there;
those that survive and leave the mountains are granted full pardon. The
underground empire of the ghouls is pure Lovecraft. Perunalia is its own beast
– a country ruled by a demigoddess, daughter of Perun (a.k.a. Thor), surrounded
by enemies (like the Mharoti Sultanate) and famous for its amazons, archery
skills and civilized society. It’s difficult to fit Perunalia in the usual
fantasy archetypes seen in most campaign settings.

The next stop is on the Ironcrag Cantons of the
dwarves and in the Magdar Kingdoms. The
Cantons are a quarrelsome group of small dwarven provinces, further divided in
clans, only kept from each other throats by the outside world. They’re a loving
mix of dwarven classic traits and novel stuff. The Magdar Kingdoms are Wolfgang’s
fantasy version of Hungary (even with its own Black Army!). In other words: proud
Horse-Lords, scheming noble houses, knightly orders and war wagons! We also get
a description of the Order of the Undying Sun.

Other major human realm is the Electoral
Kingdom of Krakova. Like Madgar, it’s surrounded by enemies – undeads, reaver
dwarves, hellish gnomes etc. Krakova seems to mix medieval German and Polony
with fantasy elements, though its capital reminds me of Warhammer Fantasy’s
Marienburg.

After the two human realms, we delve in the
undead demesnes of the Principalities of Morgau and Doresh. Imagine if Dracula
openly ruled a country. This isn’t Ravenloft though.

The next major region described is the
Rothenian Plains. Wandering towns, Kariv gypsies, centaur hordes, savage elves,
competing Khans and Baba Yaga are just some of its elements. A lovely place for
adventures to visit. We have the silver dragon-founded kingdom of Domovogrod
(which a really cool halfling culture); the Khanate of the Khazzaki, which
hungers for the sweet treasures of Mharoti, Cathay and Khandiria; the
(in)famous Demon Mountain (ruled by an evil and mysterious sorcerer!); the
devil-tainted cities of the gnomes of Neimhein; strange Vidim, the Kingdom of Ravens,
a land of humans and huginn (tengu); besides details on the various centaur
hordes, the Kariv wandering realm and windrunner (or dry grass) elves.

Moving south, we finally get to see the Dragon
Empire itself – the Mharoti Sultanate. What’s interesting about this hungry and
behemoth nation is that it isn’t your “Land of the Evil Overlord”. Quite the
contrary. The Sultanate isn’t evil at all (though some of its most powerful members
are). It is actually an exotic and cosmopolitan realm, albeit an imperialist
one, with its own interests and agendas. The Mharotian culture is filled with
interesting twists, like the fact that scaled folk in general have a higher
social status than other races (yeah, pay some respect to the local kobolds).
The top of the Sultanate’s social pyramid are the Morza, the eight Great Dragon
Lords that founded it.

Before delving on each of the provinces, the
author provides us with adventure seeds against the empire or for the empire,
again proving that things are not so simple in Midgard in regard to alignments
and clear villains. Of course, there’re exceptions. In this particular case the
Despotate of the Ruby Sea. These are the true nasty bastards of Midgard. You’ll
love to hate these guys. The most important point regarding the Despotate is
that the Rubeshi are human. Not orcs, not yet another humanoid race… just old
fashioned human greed and evil. Better than Nazis. The Despotate has all the “right”
elements to be hated. They’re slavers and demon-binders, ruled by a tyrannical
magus with enough eldritch lore to change its otherwise mundane armies in a
mass of rolling berserkers dedicated to the feared White Goddess. Flawless.

Moving on there is the Free City of Siwal,
famous for its sand ships, desert folk, caravans and oasis kept by elemental
magic. After Siwal, we get details on the ancient River Kingdom of Nuria Natal
and its god-kings, so far holding the Mharoti juggernaut. The next location is
the heavenly-touched but shattered realm of Ishadia, which places a really nice
twist on the idea of an aasimar/half-celestial land.

Because we’re talking about the Dragon Empire
and surroundings there’s also information on bazaars: typical goods, animals,
exotic stuff (did you know that aboleth brain is considered a delicacy by
dragons?), magical curiosities, local weapons and few things about dragon
magic.

The next major region described is the
warmongering land of the Seven Cities – the famous human city-states that
thrive over the ruins of the elven empire. Because we’re talking about war,
there’s information on the standing army of each city, besides the most common causa belli. I really like the fact that
Wolfgang dedicated a good amount of this chapter’s opening to explain how wars
are fought, for what reasons, on which time of the year etc. Important topics
like diplomacy (war diplomacy that is) and alliances are also addressed. After
the great introduction we get full details in the Republic of Valera, the Grand
Duchy of Illyria, the Green Duchy of Verrayne, the Theocracy of Kammae
Straboli, the Barony of Capleon, the Canton of Melana, Friula the City of
Secrets, the Republic of Trombei and Maritime Republic of Triolo, the Serene
Island of Kyprion (minotaur land). The various cities (and Kyprion) are not
just not-Italy (or not-Crete/Greece), but have nice twists and D&Disms inserted to be fun and
engaging to explore.

The final regions described are the Wasted
West, the Domains of the Princes and the Northlands.

The Wasted West is all that remains of the
mutually-annihilated human magocracies. This is Midgard’s magic post-apocalyptic wastelands dashed with a Cthulhian
flavor. Vast and bizarre deserts and terrains, filled with ruins, wild magic,
dust goblin caravans, a giant realm, lone pilgrims, daring merchants,
infernal-tainted spellcasters and Old Ones. This last bit is probably the
Wasted West’s most iconic aspect: the non-Euclidian things summoned during the
height of the Great Mage Wars couldn’t be simply banished back, so they’re
still around. You have gargantuan and alien monstrosities – each unique –
wandering around, bound to the wastes (and yes, they show up on the maps!). The
region is not only death and gloom, as we have remnant human realms and cities,
famous locations (like the seat of the god of war), and even surviving
magocracies (ready to start another eldritch Armageddon).

Next nation: Dornig, Domains of the Princes,
see itself as the last bastion of true elven power over the human masses (and
in fact a rare pure-blood elven Queen rules it from the Copper Sphinx Throne).
Imagine if the Holy Roman Empire was run by an Elven Imperatrix, who would
outlive all her half-human children and forge bonds (through marriage and
political adoption) with practically every powerful human noble house of the
region. That’s Dornig – a true hotbed of intrigue. I loved the fact that
Wolfgang managed to pass the chaotic feel that I usually get from reading the
convoluted history of our own Holy Roman Empire (and spicing it up whit D&D
elements).

There are details on the itinerant Imperial
Court, the fey roads employed by the Imperatrix, the most relevant kingdoms or
cities, minor houses and even advice on granting noble titles (and lands) to
player characters (including an awesome new incantation for fealty vows).
Finally, there’s information on the old elven enclaves and forests.

The Northlands were already (superbly)
described in a homonymous sourcebook by Open Design. Vikings, reaver dwarves,
giants & trolls, lycanthrope kingdoms, Hyperborea… what more can one ask
for? Other summarized topics are northern traditions, status, short information
on grudge and rune magic etc.

Next (and final!) part of this Augury: The Gods, their Masks and the AGE System.

About Me

My name is José Luiz. I’m a brazilian GM, (occasional) RPG blogger and (ex-) writer. I’m a fan of fantasy, science fiction, horror, historical and Weird literature and cinema. That’s all that matters for this profile I guess.